By Page H. Gifford
Correspondent
The first Juneteenth celebration will be held at the Bremo Chapel in Bremo Bluff on June 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Coming Home: Reconnecting With Our Roots celebrates Fluvanna’s African American history and culture. Events include a historical presentation, musical performances, hymn singing, soul food ($8 a plate), vendors, living portraits, local history, and storytelling.
Juneteenth memorialized the official emancipation of enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865 when General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas announcing the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation granted granting freedom to the estimated 250,000 enslaved people in the state.
The original Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. It declared that all slaves in Confederate states were free. Though many have always believed that this proclamation freed all the slaves in the nation, it did not, though it did transform the Civil War by making the abolition of slavery a focal point. The proclamation also authorized the recruitment of Black soldiers into the Union army.
Although Juneteenth marked the end of slavery in the United States, emancipation for the remaining enslaved in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, would not come until December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. Thousands of black slaves were not freed until after the Reconstruction treaties in 1866.
Slavery in the United States was officially abolished on December 18, 1865, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment. However, it allowed for involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.
In 1866, the first Juneteenth celebrations took place in Texas, with prayer meetings, spirituals, and new clothes representing new found freedom. It recognized the meaning of freedom, hope, and the fight against racial injustice. Freedom meant the end of chattel slavery and the start of a new chapter for Black Americans. Hope meant a future where freedom and equality are attainable for all.
Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in the 1980s. In 2021 it was officially recognized as a federal holiday.
For more information about this event, contact Nina Monroe at reconnectingtoroots@yahoo.com or call 434-825-5298
